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CLEVELAND -- Some losses -- like the clouds that hung out over Browns Stadium most of the afternoon Sunday -- have silver linings.

This one did not.

This was a butt-whipping with no redeeming quality. It was like agreeing to baby-sit Honey Boo Boo and having her redneck mom stiff you on the fee.

After three straight wins that generated some hope and excitement around this doomsaying franchise for the first time in a long while, Sunday's 38-21 loss to the Washington Redskins was a reminder that there's still a lot of work to be done.

Yes, the Browns can beat the Steelers at home without Ben Roethlisberger. They can beat the awful Raiders and the even more awful Chiefs.

But they couldn't beat the playoff-minded Redskins with their second-best rookie quarterback making his first NFL start.

The Browns lost every battle Sunday -- turnovers, time possession, total yards, big plays, and, especially, quarterback, where Kirk Cousins was much better than Brandon Weeden in the biggest game of their respective professional careers.

Although they weren't talking much about it, the Browns had at least mathematical playoff hopes before Sunday. A big performance from Weeden and another steady outing by the defense against a hot NFC contender would have strengthened their credentials, if not their standing.

They got neither. They got very little in the way of help from special teams, either. Reggie Hodges had punts of 34, 32 and 37 yards and, at times, looked like he was kicking marshmallows. Joshua Cribbs did nothing special with the ball in his hands. Phil Dawson never got a chance.

Coach Pat Shurmur was dead on -- some would add "for a change" -- when he called it a "total team loss."

It was. And what made it maddening is that it came out of the blue.

"It's very surprising," said rookie running back Trent Richardson, who had two short touchdown runs in the first half but otherwise was a non-factor in a skimpy running game.

The Browns had momentum from three wins in a row. They appeared to have karma on their side, too, when the Redskins decided to rest Robert Griffin III's wounded knee and start Cousins, whose claim to fame had been salvaging a 31-28 win against the fast-sinking Baltimore Ravens last week.

Instead, they made Cousins look like a Pro Bowler by repeatedly selling out on play-action, allowing him to pick them apart with backside passes.

After a rough start that included a couple of hard hits and an interception off a tipped pass that led to the Browns' first score, Cousins settled in and sliced up a defense that was as close to full strength as it's been all season, finishing with 329 yards and two touchdowns.

Maybe because of the thoroughness of the beating they had just absorbed, some of the Browns felt compelled to sing praises of Cousins, the former Michigan State star who was the eighth quarterback chosen in April's draft.

Even Redskins fans couldn't figure out why the franchise wasted a pick on him after making RGIII its savior three rounds earlier.

"He's a really good quarterback," Browns cornerback Joe Haden said. "The only reason why he's not playing is because RGIII is there. I don't want anybody to take anything away from him. He's a very capable quarterback."

The Browns said Cousins ran virtually the same packages and zone-stretch plays the Redskins feature when RGIII plays. He even rushed for 22 yards, including a 17-yard scramble, for good measure.

"Their game plan was a good plan," Richardson said. "It was something that tore us up."

We'll spend this week hearing a lot about how the Browns gave away a good chance to beat a vulnerable team. And they did.

But realists will note that the final two games are in Denver and Pittsburgh, and the Browns would have been underdogs in both even after beating the Redskins.

So maybe, on second thought, there was something to be gained by what happened here Sunday.

It was a reminder that this team remains very much a work in progress. That what we saw over the past three weeks was more a glimpse of what it can become than a confirmation of what it is right now.